Indians Prospect Insider

It took eleven innings, but Cleveland prevailed over Baltimore 2-1 through solo home runs by Zach Walters and Mike Aviles, and through the fiendishly effective Corey Kluber, whose season has vaulted him into entirely largely unprecedented territory within Indians history. The IBI's John Grimm takes Kluber's 2014 performance and, using more traditional metrics, draws implications that could make even the stoic Kluber blush.

It was another exciting night Around the Farm for the Indians as Giovanny Urshela continues his season long tear, the AZL Indians team won in walkoff fashion in 11 innings, and several high round pitchers from the 2014 Draft had their best showings of the season. The IBI's Tony Lastoria recaps the action and talks about Urshela's big night inside....

The idea in baseball is to peak at the end of the season, and play your bestbaseball down the stretch and into the playoffs. The Akron RubberDucks are following that formula to a tee. On Friday, Akron shortstop Jaime Pedroza continued to turn heads in his new organization by going 3-for-5, with a homer and four RBI as the RubberDucks outlasted the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, 9-7, at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium towin their fifth consecutive game.

Fernando Perez lined a double to the gap in left field and Ronnie Richardson scored from first base as the TinCaps beat the Captains 5-4 on Friday Night. The double occurred in the eighth inning and was Perez’s 14th RBI against the Captains this season.

For the third straight night the Mahoning Valley Scrappers struggled to hit with runners in scoring position. For the third straight night the Scrappers pitchers struggled to get off the field with two outs. The combination for the third straight night proved to be too much as the Scrappers fell at home 4-1 to the Williamsport Crosscutters.

Another week is in the books! Have a great and enjoyable weekend. In this MLB News and Notes segment, the IBI's Andrew Zajac will be giving occasional reports on the latest news and rumors throughout the MLB. Today's piece focuses on another top prospect going down and requiring Tommy John surgery, a change in the Indians rotation, an update on Brian Cashman's future with the Yankees, and more.

A five-run bottom of the sixth allowed the Potomac Nationals to overcome an early deficit Friday as they defeated the Carolina Mudcats 6-5. Carolina jumped ahead in the top of the second as Eric Haase’s first Carolina League homerun put the Mudcats ahead. After Alex Monsalve walked and Joe Sever singled up the middle, Haase sent Matthew Spann’s offering over the leftfield fence as the Mudcats went up 3-0.

The last time the Columbus Clippers (69-58) faced Toledo Mud Hens (62-65) starter Derek Hankins, he shut them down for 8.2 innings and held them to a run. But Giovanny Urshela and the rest of the Clippers offense got a measure of payback on Friday night in a 6-2 win at Fifth Third Field.

This weekly feature piece here at the IBI specifically looks at some of the prospects that have maybe not had as much attention they deserve for a variety of reasons but who are interesting or are coming onto the scene. This week the IBI's Tony Lastoria decided to talk about Todd Hankins, a position player who has been around a few years but one that a lot of people may not know much about. What kind of prospect is he? How is his bat and defense? What kind of future does he have? Tony provides all the details...

Newcomer Zach Walters made his presence known in Cleveland with a walk-off home run on Wednesday while Tyler Holt has already been turning some heads on the national level with his sensational defense in the outfield in just his first couple starts in the majors. Join the IBI's Jake Dungan as he takes a look at what the Tribe's rookies have done so far this season.

It is amazing how quickly things can change in baseball. In the immediate aftermath of the trade deadline, it was Zach Walters destroying opposing pitching while James Ramsey struggled. Well, another week made a huge difference, as now Ramsey is destroying opposing pitching too, just like he did Thursday night. Join Jim Piascik as he breaks down Ramsey's debut to date, Anderson Polanco's encouraging results in Lake County, and much more as he takes you Around the Farm.

Is it weird to anyone else how much the Indians have been off lately? Well, the good news is that the Indians are back in action today! In this MLB News and Notes segment, the IBI's Andrew Zajac will be giving occasional reports on the latest news and rumors throughout the MLB. Today's piece focuses on the election of Rob Manfred as the next commissioner of MLB, John Axford gets the axe, whether Mets manager Terry Collins is safe or on the hot seat, and more.

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers gave up six runs in the third inning on their way to an 8-2 loss against the State College Spikes. The Scrappers managed nine hits in the game, but couldn't find the scoring touch as the State College pitching staff held strong. Juan Santana took the loss for Mahoning Valley after giving up seven runs in just three innings of work.

The Lake County Captains used a two-run seventh inning to beat the Dayton Dragons, 4-3, in come-from-behind fashion. Lake County benefited from eight hits by seven different players while the pitching staff held the Dragons to four base knocks. After a Justin Brantley blown save, Wander Beras picked up the win and Trevor Frank finished his 13th save of the season.

After the Columbus Clippers took an early 2-0 lead, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs came back to move ahead 3-2 before a three-run third inning put Columbus back ahead for good. James Ramsey sparked the clippers by going 5 for 5 with four RBIs, one home run and two doubles. Kyle Davies picked up the win while Bryan Price got the hold and Mark Lowe was credited with the save.

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans needed just two innings to pick up the winning run as they beat the Carolina Mudcats, 1-0. Carolina held the Pelicans to just two hits, but stellar pitching was not backed up with stellar hitting as the Mudcats had just three of their own. Adam Plutko took the loss despite pitching seven innings of superb two-hit baseball.

After Wednesday's game was postponed, the Akron RubberDucks came out in a stalemate with Portland, until a final-inning breakthrough. Akron ended up scoring in in the seventh inning of a shortened, seven-inning game to start the day with a 1-0 win. The RubberDucks followed up with a 4-2 win in the nightcap.

The Cleveland Indians today awarded the trade waiver claim of right-handed pitcher John Axford to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Axford’s contract has now been assigned to Pittsburgh's Major League roster and they are responsible for the remaining $1.1 million approximately left on his contract.

In this week’s second edition of Minor Happenings, the IBI's Tony Lastoria takes a look at the suddenly hot performance from little known shortstop prospect Ivan Castillo. He breaks him down as a prospect, explains his value, where he needs work and what his future holds. He also provides comments from Ross Atkins on new pickups Zach Walters and James Ramsey plus what the Indians are working on with Zach McAllister in Triple-A. He also provides all the details on the playoff races for all six stateside affiliates, insight and info on players like Joe Wendle, Jerrud Sabourin and Cameron Hill, and much more.

The Lake County Captains picked up five straight wins this week as the team's offense has suddenly come to life. They remain 6 1/2 games back in the second half playoff race, though the first place West Michigan Whitecaps have already clinched a spot. Sitting just 2 1/2 games behind the second place South Bend Silver Hawks, the Captains are still playing meaningful baseball.

Available IBI Books

The 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!